Feed nozzle for transporting filamentary materials

ABSTRACT

A NOZZLE FOR TRANSPORTING, WITH OR WITHOUT CONCURRENT TREATMENT, THREADS, YARNS AND SIMILAR FILAMENTARY MATERIALS THROUGH ENTRAINMENT BY A FLUID STREAM INCLUDES A CYLINDRICAL HOUSING WITH A FRUSTOCONICAL OUTLET AND AN AXIALLY CHANNELED CYLINDRICAL CORE HAVING A FRUSTOCONICAL FRONT END SPACEDLY NESTED IN THAT OUTLET, THE WIDTH OF THE GAP BETWEEN OUTLET AND CORE BEING DETERMINED BY A TUBULAR SPACER HAVING A LATERAL CUTOUT IN LINE WITH A FLUID INLET AND ONE OR MORE WASHERS INSERTED TOGETHER WITH THE SPACER BETWEEN A REAR FLANGE OF THE CORE AND A FRONT WALL OF THE HOUSING. THIS FRONT WALL MAY BE ROTATABLE RELATIVELY TO THE HOUSING PERIPHERY TO VARY THE POSITION OF ITS ECCENTRICALLY DISPOSED OUTLET WITH REFERENCE TO THE HOUSING AXIS, THE CORE BEING SIMILARLY ROTATABLE AND ECCENTRICALLY MOUNTED ON ITS REAR FLANGE.

United States Patent Inventors Appl. No. Filed Patented Assignee Priority FEED NOZZLE FOR TRANSPORTING FILAMENTARY MATERIALS 9 Claims, 5 Drawing Figs.

Int. Cl F23d 11/10 Field of Search 239/433,

Primary Examiner- Lloyd L King Attorney- Karl F. Ross ABSTRACT: A nozzle for transporting, with or without concurrent treatment, threads, yarns and similar filamentary materials through entrainment by a fluid stream includes a cylindrical housing with a frustoconical outlet and an axially channeled cylindrical core having a frustoconical front end spacedly nested in that outlet, the width of the gap between outlet and core being determined by a tubular spacer having a lateral cutout in line with a fluid inlet and one or more washers inserted together with the spacer between a rear flange of the core and a front wall of the housing. This front wall may be rotatable relatively to the housing periphery to vary the position of its eccentrically disposed outlet with reference to the housing axis, the core being similarly rotatable and eccentrically mounted on its rear flange.

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FEED NOZZLE FOR TRANSPORTING FILAMENTARY MATERIALS Our present invention relates to a nozzle for transporting, with or without concurrent treatment, filamentary material such as textile yarns and threads through entrainment by a fluid stream. Such nozzles are useful in systems of the type described in our copending applications Ser. No. 592,870, filed 8 Nov. 1966, and now abandoned, and Ser. No. 776,742 filed l8 Nov. I968, wherein the filaments are steamed. shrunk, dyed, textured, impregnated or otherwise treated by a gas or liquid at elevated temperatures.

More particularly, such a nozzle may lie at the entrance ofa treatment chamber into which the filament is introduced by the hot fluid whose pressure may vary from several atmospheres, as in the first one of our aforementioned prior applications, to just a fraction of an atmosphere (gauge), as specified in our second application. In either case it is necessary that the flow rate and fluid pressure be accurately and reproducibly maintained within narrow tolerance ranges.

The general object of our present invention is to provide a nozzle for this and related purposes which can be easily and reproducibly adjusted to different effective cross-sectional areas corresponding to selected rates of flow-through.

In some instances, as where the nozzle axis is horizontal or inclined, the fluid stream enveloping the entrained filamentary material should be eccentrically arranged so as to impart an unbalanced thrust to the filament, e.g. with an upward component counteracting the effect of gravity. Such eccentric fluid flow may further serve to roughen or texture certain yarns or to assist in the longitudinal splitting of narrow fiber bundles. It may further be desirable to impart to the flow a swirling motion designed to increase or decrease the twist of the yarn. Thus, our invention also aims at providing a nozzle structure adapted to develop such eccentric and/or swirling fluid flow around an entrained filament.

These objects are realized, pursuant to our present invention, by the provision ofa nozzle having a housing of generally cylindrical shape with an outlet for the fluid and the filamentary material in a transverse front wall and with a lateral fluid inlet in its peripheral wall, the filament passing through an axially directed bore of a core which lies inside the housing with peripheral clearance and axial adjustability while having a rear flange engaging the peripheral housing wall; the width ofa gap defined between a preferably frustoconically shaped front end of the core and the complementarily shaped outlet is determined by removable separating means advantageously including a tubular spacer and one or more annular washers surrounding the core, the spacer having a lateral cutout in line with the fluid inlet.

According to another feature of our invention, the complementarily frustoconical surfaces of the outlet and the core may be limitedly disalignable by an eccentric positioning of the outlet and/or the core body on the front wall of the hous ing and/or the rear flange of the core, rotation of either the front wall or the rear flange with reference tothe other member thus varying the relative position of the two frustoconical surfaces to develop an imbalanced flow as described above. A similar result may be obtained by providing either frustoconical surface with a lateral depression which, if a swirling motion is desired, may be centered on a line skew to the axis of the outlet.

The above and other features of our invention will become more readily apparent from the following description, reference being made to the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is an axial sectional view of a nozzle embodying our invention;

FIG. 2a is a view similar to FIG. 1 showing a modification;

FIG. 2b is a cross-sectional view taken on the line IIB-IIB of FIG.

FIG. 3a is a perspective view ofa core adapted to be used in the nozzle of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3b is a view similar to FIG. 30 showing a further modification.

In FIG. 1 we have shown a nozzle according to the invention comprising a housing with a cylindrical peripheral wall I having an internally threaded rear end 2. The front wall of the stationary housing is formed by a transverse flange I, defining a discharge aperture 4, and by an adjoining nozzle ring 5 whose central opening 12 constitutes an outlet port for a yarn or other filament y surrounded by a gas or air stream g (e.g. steam). The fluid is admitted laterally into the housing through an inlet nozzle 11 and reaches the outlet port 12 through an annular clearance 33 surrounding a core 6; the front end I0 of this core is of frustoconical shape and nests in a complementarily frustoconical rearward extension 9 of port 12. Ring 5, whose forward face 3 bears upon flange 1, could also be integral with the housing wall 1, yet its illustrated construction as a separate entity enables changes in the size of outlet port 12. Core 6 has an axially extending channel 14 which guides the yarn y toward the orifice 12 in line therewith, a rear flange 6 of the core slidably engaging the inner peripheral surface of housing ring I and being separated from the front wall 5 by a tubular spacer 7 and one or more annular washers l3 removably interposed therebetween. Spacer 7 has a lateral cutout I5, registering with the inlet 11, and is also formed with an outer longitudinal groove 17 engaged by a screw 15 which prevents rotation of this spacer relative to the housing but allows its axial displacement therein. Advantageously, the axial length of spacer 7 is so chosen that, in the absence of any washer 13, the frustoconical front face l0 of core 5 just touches the funnel-shaped recess 9 in front wall 5. A centrally apertured retaining element 8, such as a nut with a square or hexagonal inner profile, threadedly engages the rearward extension 2 of housing wall 1 so as to hold the core flange 6' under pressure against front member 5, through the intermediary of spacing elements 13 and 7, thereby also urging the forward face 3 of member 5 against the flange l of the housing.

The number of washers 13 inserted between flange 6' and tube 7 determines the width of the gap defined by the confronting frustoconical surfaces 9 and I0 and, hence, the flow rate ofa fluid g admitted under a given pressure at inlet 11. To adjust this flow rate, or to accommodate different fluids, the number of washers 13 may be increased or reduced, possibly with substitution of wider or narrower washers from a calibrated set.

The diameter of port 12 may range between about 1.2 and 3.5 times that of bore l4 under the usual operating conditions, i.e. with the diameter of bore 14 equaling two or more times the thickness of the filament y fed therethrough.

In order to increase the service life of the nozzle, the apertured disc or ring member 5 and the core member 6 may be fashioned from hardened tool steel. In many instances, however, it will suffice to apply a hard chrome plating to the confronting surfaces 9 and I0 thereof. If high fluid pressures and/or temperatures are employed, e.g. for the texturing of yarn, these members may be made from sintered ceramic material. If steam or some other aqueous medium serves as the treatment fluid, stainless steel may be used for the entire structure.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 2a and 2b we have replaced the centrally symmetrical core 6, 6' by an eccentric core 20 coacting with a similarly eccentric nozzle ring 23 which again forms part of the front wall of a housing 24. As best seen in FIG. 2b, the bore 18 of core 20 has an eccentricity E with reference to the housing axis, the same eccentricity applying to the outlet port 21 with its frustoconical rearward extension 22 facing the front end 19 of the core. Both members 20 and 23 are rotatable within housing 24, the flange 20 of core 20 being provided with a series of peripherally spaced flutes 25 selectively engageable by the shank 26' of an indexing screw 27'. In an analogous manner, nozzle ring 23 has peripherally spaced flutes 2S" selectively engageable by the shank 26" of an indexing screw 27". Upon relative rotation of members 20 and 23 in housing 24, the axes of bore 18 and port 21 may be disaligned to a greater or less extent, varying over a full 360 range, although in that case it would be less 7 convenient to, reproduce a specified relative position thereof.

For the various textile treatments referred to above, the op timum eccentricity ranges between about 0.3 and 3 mm As shown in FIG. 3a, a nozzle core 28 with rear flange 28 and beveled front end 29, otherwise similar to the core 6 of FIG. 1, may be ground or milled off at 30 to form a lateral depression for the purpose of generating an unsymmetrical fluid flow around a filament issuing from its bore 14. As shown in FIG. 3b, a similar core 34 may have its front end 32 formed with a depression 31 which differs from the bilaterally symmetrical depression 30 of FIG. 3a in being centered on a line L lying skew to the axis of bore 14. The latter arrangement causes the fluid to swirl around the filament exiting from the bore; with the inclination of depression 31 illustrated in FIG. 3b, the swirl will correspond to a right-hand twist.

In general, our improved nozzles as described hereinabove may be used with fluid pressures ranging between 0.l and 10 atmospheres gauge and at temperatures up to approximately 250 C. The generatrices of the frustoconical surfaces 9. 10 or 19, 22 may include angles between about and almost 90 with the cone axes and will be seen to intersect the axis of core 6 or 20 within the outlet 4, 12 or 4, 21 to ensure effective entrainment ofthe filament y by the fluid stream.

We claim:

1. A nozzle for transporting filamentary material, comprising a housing with a generally cylindrical peripheral wall and with a transverse front wall having an outlet for a fluid stream and filamentary material entrained thereby, said peripheral wall having an inlet for said fluid stream; a 'core fitting with peripheral clearance and axial adjustability in said housing, said core having a rear flange engaging said peripheral wall, a front end separated from said front wall by a narrow annular gap with generatrices converging on the core axis within said outlet, and an axially extending bore terminating at said front end in line with said outlet for the advance of said filamentary material therethrough;'and separating means removably inserted between said front wall and said rear flange for maintaining said gap at a predetermined width, said separating means including a tubular insert spacedly surrounding said core in slidable and nonrotatable -relationship with said peripheral wall, thereby forming an annular passage for said fluid terminating at said gap, said spacer having a cutout in line with said inlet communicating with said passage.

2. A nozzle as defined in claim I wherein said separating means further comprises at least one annular washer surrounding said core adjacent said tubular spacer.

3. A nozzle as defined in claim 1 wherein said peripheral wall is provided with an internally threaded rear end, further comprising a complementarily threaded centrally apertured pressure element in said rear end bearing upon said core.

4. A nozzle as defined in claim 1 wherein said outlet and said front end are provided with substantially complementary frustoconical surfaces, said front end being partly received in said outlet.

5. A nozzle as defined in claim 4, wherein one of said frustoconical surfaces is formed with a lateral depression for generating an unsymmetrical fluid flow.

6. A nozzle as defined in claim-5 wherein said depression is centered on a line skew to the axis of said outlet.

7. A nozzle as defined in claim I wherein the diameter of said outlet ranges between substantially 1.2 and 3.5 times the diameter of said bore.

8. A nozzle for transporting filamentary material, comprising a housing with a generally cylindrical peripheral wall and with an end member forming part of a transverse front wall,

said end member havingan outwardly converging opening with a substantially frustoconical surface forming an outlet for a fluid stream and filamentary material entrained thereby, said peripheral wall having an inlet for said fluid stream; a core member fitting with peripheral clearance and axial adjustability in said housing, said core member having a rear flange engaging said peripheral wall and further having a front end with a forwardly converging substantially frustoconical surface complementary to that of said opening, said frustoconical surfaces together defining a narrow-annular gap for the passage of the fluid from said inlet to said outlet, said core member being provided with an axially extending bore terminating at said front end in line with said outlet for the advance of said filamentary material therethrough, at least one of said members being rotatable relatively to said peripheral wall and to the other of said members and having its frustoconical surface eccentrically disposed with reference to the housing axis whereby rotation thereof relative to the other member causes limited disalignment of said frustoconical surfaces; and separating means removably inserted between said front wall and said rear flange for maintaining said gap at a predetermined width in a given relative position of said members.

9. A nozzle as defined in claim 9 wherein both said members are rotatable and both said frustoconical surfaces are eccentrically disposed, said members being provided with indexing means for selectively arresting same in different rotary positrons. 

